1874. ] 
APPLICATION OP LIQUID MANUEE. 
15 
a bad name from not setting so freely as one could wisb. We have only one plant 
of it which carried seven bunches, five of which were quite perfect, the others 
thin in the middle. Mr. Eivers describes it as the Eyton Muscat; berries large, 
oval, equal in size ; an excellent variety. According to my experience, I should 
not recommend it to be planted on a large scale,—the Muscat of Alexandria is the 
best for that purpose ; but where a large white Grape is wanted, as a noble com¬ 
panion for the Black Alicante and Gros Colman, either the Escholata or Mr. W. 
Paul’s Waltham Gross (from what I saw of it when exhibited at the Bishop Stort- 
ford Autumn Show), may be selected. The fact that the latter is a strong grower 
will recommend it, as it does the Escholata, which with us is one of the strongest- 
gi’owing grapes that I know of. I believe this is a step in the right direction, as a 
vigorous constitution assists the gardener to avoid several of the evils he has to 
contend with in Grape-growing, namely, spot and shanking ; even mildew, I have 
no doubt arises a great deal from the same cause, namely, a weak constitution.— 
William Plester, Elsenham Hall Gardens. 
APPLICATION OF LIQUID MANUEE. 
'HE beneficial results obtained from manure-water, when judiciously applied 
to fruiting and flowering plants, has long been recognised by cultivators, 
and its use is by them becoming more general. It is well known that the 
roots of plants are usually more healthy when growing in pure soil free 
from rank manure, and these roots will draw up more healthy nourishment to 
the plants from manure given in a liquid state, than when they are encased in 
rank material which they cannot consume. We know that our most successful 
grape-growers use very little solid manure in the soil, only a few bones or bone- 
meal, or similar material, which cannot give off more stimulant than the plants 
can consume, and also remains much longer in the soil as a fertilizer than manure 
which dissolves rapidly. Pine-apples are not grown by successful cultivators in that 
rich stuff so much prized by some of our forefathers. The successful florist has 
more faith in giving stimulants when the plant really needs them, than in keeping 
the roots buried in soil made rich and almost offensive by strong manure. When 
roots are few, and the plants almost at rest, the purer the soil and the less stimulant 
the plants receive, the better will they thrive when their roots come to draw up 
larger supplies of nourishment. 
It is the application of liquid manure to plants in pots to which I wish more 
particularly to direct attention. It is a practice of some growers, when they observe 
plants making.slow, unhealthy growth, to give doses of strong manure-water—- 
sometimes in a putrid condition, and the result is, that the plants so treated go 
from bad to worse; but if the roots were cleared of the unhealthy soil about 
them, and replanted into healthy material, success might then be expected ; and 
when abundance of roots are formed, so that the pots are well filled, manure 
might bo given at each watering. I strongly object to the advice often seen in 
print, to give a strong dose tmee a week or at some other appointed time, 
